Continuous wire-drawing machine



` May 12, 1925.

F. H. SLEEPER CONTINUOUS WIRE DRAWING MACHINE Filed Aug. 27, 1923 Z Sheets-Sheet 1 May 12, 1925.

F. H. SLEEPER CONTINUOUS WIRE` DRAWING MACHINE Filed Aug. 27, 21.923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 12,l 192.5.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK H. SLEEPER, 0F WORCETER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO SLEEPER &

HARTLIEY, INC., OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSA- CHUSETTS.

CONTINUOUS WIRE-DRAWING MACHINE.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK H. SLEEPER, a citizen of the Dominion of Canada, residing at Worcester, inthe county of Worceste'r and State of Massachusetts, have, invented a new and useful Continuous Wire- Drawing Machine, of which the following is a specification. y

The principal object of this invention is to provide a continuous wire drawing machine in which variations in resistance will be compensated for instantaneously and smoothly so that all sudden variations in speed will be avoided. This is accomplished by providing, inl place of the ordinary kinds of differential gearing, a device for driving the drums which will he controlled by and respond VYinstantly to changes in torque yso that the speed of each drum .after the first one will be varied in accordance with changes in load, that is, changes in the resistance to the drawing through of the wire. More specifically, the arrangement is such, that as soon as the resistance to the passage of the wire through a die is increased, the speed will Kslow down quickly and proportionally and when the resistance decreases the speed will increase and this will be accomplished automatically by the variations vin torque on the shafts through which power is transmitted to the drum. The invention also involves a greatly simplified construction and one that is muchmore flexible in operation than the usual differential drives.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter. x

Reference. is to he had to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l` 's a front elevation of a continuous wire drawing machine constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan of the saine;

Fig. 3 is an end view with the motor shaft in section on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. Il is a transverse sectional view on the line 1 -4 'of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the center of the drawing through drums, showing twoof them;

Fig. 6 is an edge view of one of the pulleys for driving the drums shown partly in central section; and

wire have been in use for some years. They usually-i11volve means for permitting variation 1n the speed of rotation of the drums and avoid the positive connection of the drums with their driving shafts, so that, in case of sudden increase in strain, the speed can he reduced automatically to avoid breaking the wire and yet the wire will be kept taut. For this purpose differential gearing of various kinds has been employed. However, they do not respond instantaneously to variations in resistance, so they do not work .with perfect smoothness. The speed variations are more or less sudden and jerky.

While this invention is applied to the same kind of a machine the important difficulty thereof is eliminated by the present invention in that no differential gearing is employed. Instead of that I provide means whereby instantaneouslywhen a drum tends to slow up by reason of encountering additional resistance, usually in the passage of the wire through the die, the speed of transmission to the shaft which is driving that drum will he reduced automatically and that reduction will be caused by the change in torque on that shaft. Also, the opposite operation takes place upon a decrease in torque. It will he understood that it is not a change in speed anywhere that changes the speed ofthe drum tov compensate for it but it is change in torque itself. It is the resistance that changes the speed and therefore the operation is instantaneous and the correction of the difficulty does not lag behind the cause.

Referring now to the drawings, I have sh own the wire drawing bench 1 as arranged in substantially the usual form and provided with an end frame 2 for supporting an electric motor 3 although any other kind of driving means can be employed. Through gearing 4 the motor or other driving means rotates continuously the main shaft 5. 0n this shaft are arranged several pulleys (3, 1G, 2G and 36, preferably all of the same size. The first pulley 6 is provided with a belt whichidrives a pulley 9 positively fixed on a shaft OO. This shaft throughbevel gears 25 drives a vertical shaft 27 connected with the first drawing through drum 28. This drum therefore is positively driven at a constant speed from the main shaft 5. The second pulley 16 through a belt 7 shown in Fig 4 andA belt tightener 8, drives a pulley 19 on a second shaft 10 parallel with the first shaft 00. These two shafts are shown as inalignment but are entirely-independent of each other.

I have provided for arranging one or both of the pulleys 16 and 19 in such a way as to accomplish the results above indie-ated. For -the purpose of illustration, I have shown the invention as applied to the pulley 19 on the driven shaft 10. If Vthe invention were applied to the pulley 16 on the driving shaft 5 slight modifica-tions would be made but the result would be the same and that constitutes a part of this invention.

Keyed upon the shaft 10 is thephub of a flat disc 11. .This disc is provided with a series of cam slots 12 all located at equal and definite angles to radial lines and at equal distances apart circumferentially.v

Rotatably mounted on the driven shaft 10 is the hub 13 of the pulley. Thisshub is intended to be connected with' the shaft through the disc 11 only. It is shown as bearing up against a collar 14 fixed to the shaft and as provided with a series of radial guides 15. I have shown notches 17 at the ends of these guides fora purpose to be described.

Mounted to movey freely in the guides 15 are a series of radialslides 18. Each one of these has a pulley rim section,fpreferably integrally mounted on its end, and these sections taken together. constitute the entire 1o/rim of the pulley 19`. These slides are loy.of the driven vtion of the speed ratio.

cated in the guides 15 sothat they can move .radially therein for the purpose of increaslng and decreasing the diameter of the pulley. Each slide isprovided with a projection or stud 20 on which is rotatably mounted a cam roll 21. The number of these slides is equal to the number of cam slots 12 and each of these rolls 21 is placed in one of the cam slots.

At the rear of each slide is shown a web 22 for which the notches 17 are provided. One end of a spring 23 is secured to the web, the other end being secured to a projection 24 on the hub 13. Thesehsprings as shown 1n these figures are arranged radially and they are extension springs in this case. Any spring or other means can be used that will tend to resist all decrease. in the speed of transmission. The springs 23 tend to hold the slides in toward the center and in that way they tend to resist increase in the size pulley and consequent reduc- In this case they also resistth'e action of centrifugal force if the pull :y is driven fast enough to bring that into play suiliciently to move these sections. This means is arranged to resist de? creases in the speed ratio.

Power is transmitted from the belt 17 running over the rim of the pulley 19 through the several slides 18 to the rolls 21. The rolls, on account of engaging the slanting surfaces of the slots 12, will move outwardly on any increase in load or torque. Therefore the belt will transmit its power to the disc 11 and thus to the driven shaft 10 at a slower speed. This change in speed is governed automatically by the torque on the driven shaft. This results in the automatic and instantaneous variation in the speed of transmission to avoid the breakage of the wire in case of sudden increase in resistance and also keeps the wire taut. l.

Although I have mentioned centrifugal force I wish it to be understood that ordinarily I do not intend to drive this pulley fast enough to have the centrifugal force exert any y appreciable influence onv the diameter of the pulley.

rllhe shaft 10 is connected with its drawing through drumfin the same Way as has been described above in connection with the first shaft 00. The pulleys 2G 'and 36 on the driving shaft 5 are also connected with pulleys 29 and 39 on their shafts 20 and 30 in the same way as the pulley 16 the same principles being applied in all these three cases. Preferably the pulleys 9, 19, 2,9 and 39 are all of the same size. The last pulley 39 drives through bevel gearing the winding drum 29 but otherwise conditions are the same throughout. f f

In this way I have provided an arrangementwhereby ythe first drawing through drum is driven positively and at a constant speed but the other drawin through drums and the winding drum are driven with variable speeds governed entirely by the torque on the shafts connected with them and immediately sensitive to any changes in resistance. These changes are compensated for as and when they arise, so that they have no chance to become great and the modifications in speed are made smoothly and with- 4 out jar and they are relatively small.

It will be observed that the gear ratio increases from the first drumyto the last in the usual proportions so that as the wire is drawn out the speed of the drum on lwhich it is wound is progressively g eater,I as is usually the case in this class f machines. This invention is not intended to change that ratio but to govern the actual speed of each of the drums after the first one in ac'- cordance with the torque. f

This immediately reduces sudden strains while they are taking place, enables the machine, to run size, and permits of uniform run-ning as long as the wire is without changes insize fast if the wire is under and hardness and no other obstacles inter vene. In that way breakage is avoided and production is increased while the quality and uniformity of the product are improved.

It will be observed that I have provided on the shaft 00 a gear 31 for operating a crank 32 and that this operates a wire pointing device 33. I have also shown the die holders 34 and other features of the wire drawing machine which do not constitute parts of this invention.

Although I have illustrated and described only one form of the invention, I am aware of the fact that modifications can 'be made therein. by any person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the claims. Therefore I do not wish to'be limited to all the details of construction herein shown` and described but what I do' claim is 1. In a wire drawing machine, thecombination with a shaft, a wire drawinvdrum, means for positively said drum, driving means for the" shaft comprising a belt and two pulleys connecte thereby, one pulley being on said shaft, and means associated with said driving means for instantaneously and smoothly increasing thefspeed of said gearing when the load decreases 4and decreasing its speed when the load increases, said means being operated by variations inthe torque on said shaft.

2. In a wire drawing machine, the combination with a Wire drawing drum and a shaft for driving it, of two pulleys and a belt for driving the shaft, one of said pulleys being expansible and means for varying the speed of the shaft through the expansible pulley inversely as the torque on said shaft.

gearing the sthaft to 4. In a wire drawing machine, the com bination with a driving shaft, a driven shaft, a pulley on each shaft, a belt driving one pulley from the other, the pulley on one of the shafts being expansible and loosely mounted thereon, a wire drawing drum, and means for positively driving the drum from said driven shaft, of a disc in the loose pull'ey fixed to its shaft, and means for connect-y ing the loose pulley and disc for transmit- 60 ting power between the pulley and shaft atl a speed varying inversely with thetorque on that shaft.

5, In a continuous wire drawin the combination with a set o through and winding drums, a main machine,

shaft,

d pulleys on the main shaft,r one foreach drum, a set of driven shafts each having a pulley adapted to be driven from the respective pulleyon connections between the first pulley and its driven shaft, means for connecting each of the other driven pulleys with its driven shaft and transmitting the power thereto at .a speed varyino` with the torque, and posi- 75 tive gearing for connecting each driven shaft with the respective drum for normally driving each drumof the series faster than those before it.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto af- 80 fixed my signature.

FRANK H. sLEEPER.

drawing the main shaft, positive 

